PAlIPIILETn 
ON 


THE.    COUTTTRY   CHURCH 


Volume   3 


4 


n 


KOl 


V,  3 


Federal  council  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in 
America,  What  every  church  should  know  about 
its  community. 

General  Association  of  Congregational  Churches 
of  Massachusetts,  Advance  reports  of  various 
committees,  1908  and  1909 

McElfresh,  F.  The  country  Sunday  school 

MclTutt,  M»  B»  Modern  methods  in  the  country  church 

McUutt ,  M«  B»  A  post-graduate  school  with  a  purpose 

Massachusetts  Federation  of  Churches,  Quarterly 
"bulletin »  Facts  and  factors*  October  1910 
"The  part  of  the  church  in  rural  x^r ogress  as 
discussed  at  the  Amherst  Conference," 

Root,  E»  T«  State  federations 

Taf t ,  A.  B^  The  mistress  of  the  rural  manse 

Taf t ,  A.  B,  The  tent  mission 

Taylor^  G,  Basis  for  social  evangelism  with  rural 
applications 

Wells,  G.  F»  An  ansv/er  to  the  New  England  country 
church  question. 

Wells,  G«  F*  Y/hat  our  country  churches  need 

Wilson,  W«  H»  The  church  and  the  transient 

Wilson,  W.  H»  Conservation  of  boys 

Wilson,  W»  H.  The  country  church 

Wilson,  W.  H»  The  country  church  xerogram 

Wilson,  W,  H.  Don*t  breathe  on  the  thermometer 

Wilson,  W»  H.  The  farmers*  church  and  the  farmers* 
^  college 

on 

CO    Wilson,  W.  IT.  Getting  the  worker  to  church 
o_ 

LU 


Wilson,  W.  H.  The  girl  on  the  farm 

Wilson  J  W.  H»  How  to  manage  a  country  life 
institute 

Wilson,  W«  H.  "Marrying  the  land." 

Wilson  J   W.    H»  iTo   need   to  "be  i^oor    in  the   country 

Wilson,  W*  H.  Synod's  opportunity 

Wilson,  W«  H»  What  limits  the  rural  Evangel 


«   S  »  3  9  S  4 


The  church  and  country  life «  Pamphlet  issued 
hy  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  IVIember  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/countrychurchpro03wils 


Cj)e  Country 
Cf)urc|)  ^rofiram 

By  WARREN  H.  WILSON,  Ph.D. 


We  cannot  understand  the  country 
church  without  practicing  what  we 
know.  The  best  means  of  comprehen- 
sion of  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  the 
country  community  and  to  country 
people  is  a  program  of  action  for  the 
sake  of  insight.  The  ministers  who 
are  co-operating  with  the  Presbyterian 
Department  of  Cliurch  and  Country 
Life  have  worked  out  together  such  a 
program. 

The  country  church  is  struggling 
for  survival.  In  a  few  instances 
country  churches  are  successful.  In 
most  cases  the  country  church  is  grad- 
ually, and  in  some  cases  swiftly,  losing 
ground.  The  following  program  is 
presented  as  a  statement  of  principles 
and  methods  essential  to  the  survival 
and  continued  efficiency  of  the  coun- 
try church. 

First — The  country  church  must  be 
evangelistic.  Its  existence  depends 
upon  its  interest  in  temperance  and 


other  moral  reforms,  and  it  must  be, 
in  order  to  survive  in  our  day,  a  mis- 
sionary church.  In  all  this  the  coun- 
try church  shares  the  experience  of  the 
Church  at  large. 

Second — -The  country  church  serves 
men  by  serving  the  country  commu- 
nity. It  must  be  a  community  center, 
sympathetic  with  all  the  interests  of 
the  entire  community. 

Third— The  churches  in  each  coun- 
try community  must  federate  with  one 
another  in  the  interest  of  the  Kingdom. 
Rural  Christianity  and  civilization  are 
dependent  upon  union.  The  country 
church  is  simple,  and  the  Christian 
message  must  be  single  and  free  from 
division  or  differences. 

Fourth — The  country  church  should 
make  a  thorough  survey  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  basis  of  its  work.  It 
should  preserve  this  survey  as  a  per- 
manent Exhibit,  using  it  as  the  basis 
of  its  continued  service  to  the  com- 
munity. 

Fifth — The  country  church  is  de- 
pendent for  its  survival  and  its  con- 
tinued efficiency  upon  its  promoting 
and  inspiring  some  or  all  of  the  fol- 
lowing movements  according  as  the 
community  has  need. 

(a)  The  improvement  of  schools 


and    their    consolidation    wherever 
possible. 

(b)  The  study  of  scientific  agri- 
culture and  of  better  farming  in  all 
forms. 

(c)  Public  recreation  for  the 
young  people  and  working  people  of 
the  community. 

(d)  Public  health  and  better  liv- 
ing conditions. 

(e)  Co-operation  with  the 
Grange  and  other  community  or- 
ganizations in  plans  for  progress. 

(i)  An  Old  Home  Anniversary 
to  cherish  the  history  of  the  town 
and  to  maintain  active  communica- 
tion with  former  residents  and  mem- 
bers. 

Sixth — In  order  to  survive  and  to 
maintain  religious  efficiency  the  coun- 
try church  must  determine  its  policies 
within  the  community  by  the  needs  of 
the  marginal  man.  In  the  country, 
tenant  farmers,  farm  hands,  immi- 
grants, the  young  people  and  the  chil- 
dren in  the  community  are  the  mar- 
ginal people  by  whom  the  standards 
of  character  and  conduct  are  meas- 
ured. In  its  service  to  them  the  coun- 
try church  succeeds  or  fails  with  the 
community  as  a  whole. 

Seventh — It  is  essential  to  the  con- 


tinuance  of  the  country  church  that 
the  pastor  receive  a  salary  sufficient 
for  his  Hving  under  the  prevaiHng 
economic  conditions. 

This  program  is  the  voice  of  the 
successful  country  minister,  who 
speaks  out  of  a  hard  struggle.  He 
speaks  for  many  men  who  are  losing 
in  the  struggle.  Out  of  the  country 
church  men  are  going  in  desperation, 
being  beaten  in  the  fight  by  certain 
evil  conditions  which  prevail  to-day  in 
the  country  and  are  the  greatest  ene- 
mies of  the  church.  Some  of  the 
above  principles  are  not  universal,  but 
certain  of  them  were  universally 
agreed  upon  as  vital  to  the  survival  of 
the  country  church  throughout  the 
United  States.  By  general  consent 
four  of  these  stand  out  above  all  the 
others— the  worst  enemies  of  the  coun- 
try church  are  denominationalism,  bad 
economic  methods  in  agriculture,  the 
inefficient  country  school,  and  the  im- 
possible salary  which  is  offered  to  all 
country  ministers.  The  program, 
therefore,  commends  federation  of 
churches,  the  study  of  agriculture,  con- 
solidation of  schools  and  readjustment 
of  ministers'  salaries  as  essential  to 
the  survival  of  the  country  church  and 
to  its  continued  efficiency. 

Department  of  Chnrch  and  Country  Life,  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., 
156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 


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